John 12
We are reading through the Gospel of John over 21 days at River Church. We are calling this 21 Days with John. I will be posting a quick thought every day from my reading.
In John 12 we see intimate worship and expressive praise for Jesus. In John 12:3 "Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume". This was an act of intimate worship. We see that she was criticised for her extravagant act of worship but Jesus said in John 12:7 to "leave her alone". Like Jesus said in John 4:23-24 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth".
Then in John 12:12-13 we see a crowd of people giving Jesus loud expressive praise. We see a celebration in John 12:13 "They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!". This praise of Jesus frustrated the Pharisees who said in John 12:19 "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!" People are drawn to Jesus in an atmosphere of expressive praise. At River Church let us be those who are expressive in our praise for Jesus. Let us spare no expense in our worship of Jesus. He alone is worthy!
My prayer for today is "Jesus, I want to be one who praises you with all my heart. I want to be one who worships God in spirit and truth. Only you Jesus are worthy!"
